White supremacy fliers allegedly posted on campus

Students have been reporting the discovery of posters and literature from Identity Evropa, an organization that has been singled out as a white supremacy group on Millersville University’s campus.

Identity Evropa is described as a “fraternal organization for people of European heritage located in the United States that participates in community building and civic engagement” according to their website.

The reputation of the organization is much more negative than what the website suggests; the social media posts of university students across the United States list the organization as a white supremacy group.

Many Millersville students retweeted or reposted images to their personal social media accounts showing Identity Evropa posters placed around campus in prominent locations like the Francine G. McNairy Library and residence halls.

The images received a lot of attention on Twitter and Facebook.

Carl Schulz, a Millersville student and a student-employee at the Francine G. McNairy Library, shared a post about the presence of Identity Evropa on his personal social media.

“It wasn’t something that I was aware of until last Tuesday [September 19]… My boss asked me to come look at something and it was a news article that he had been passed about postings [from Identity Evropa] here and at Elizabethtown,” said Schulz.

“[The image] was the bulletin board in the first floor of the library. And that kind of sparked my anger… I basically went looking around the whole library. Apparently they were all taken down before anyone had noticed on Monday.”

Although Schulz has stated that he is aware of other Millersville community members who have found these images and removed them from their location, he has not seen the posters or images himself.

The shared images have captured the attention of the Millersville student body; many students and alumni have shared the images with passionate additions about how they are unwilling to believe that this is happening on campus.

No one has been able to verify the presence of the posters from Identity Evropa on campus. The response from the student body has not gone unnoticed by university officials.

Student Senate President Kiefer Luckenbill stated that he was proud to see his peers continuing to speak out against hate messages on campus.

“The important thing to remember is that this organization is not affiliated with the campus. I believe that these fliers have further stoked the already growing flame of passion in our students for a more inclusive and diverse campus culture and community,” said Luckenbill. “Changing a culture is a huge undertaking. . . . However, it is their selfless spirit and deep passion that continues to make me proud each and every day to represent them to our university and community.”

Millersville University responded to the postings in a statement sent out as a ‘Ville Bulletin on September 21.

The statement encouraged student to reach out to school officials if they were feeling intimidated or unsafe on campus, and ultimately condemned the message shared on the posters.

It was stated in the bulletin that the philosophies associated with Identity Evropa do not match the EPPIC values that the university shares. The EPPIC values are Exploration, Professionalism, Public Mission, Integrity, and Compassion.

To counter any further Identity Evropa posters that may be placed on bulletin boards, Millersville University has also posted signs of their own; throughout the bulletin boards on campus there are signs that campus property is “not to be used for hate or any organization that spreads hate.”

No further statement has been released from the university at this time.

This article was updated at 2:08 PM on September 28, 2017 to include the correct spelling of Carl Schulz’s last name.